1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to watering systems for chickens or small animals. More specifically, the field of the invention is that of such watering systems which provide for cleaning the internal surfaces of the water conduits.
2. Prior Art
The proper provision of water is essential for safe and efficient nurturing of fowl and small animals, for example in raising chickens. The proper amount of water is critical to develop the chickens quickly for consumption, and is at least as important as food. Water is important in terms of cost because chickens receiving more water consume less food. In addition to the chickens needing water to grow, water can provide other benefits, for example, medicine and vitamins can be added to provide the chickens beneficial nutrients. However, problems with the water supply can adversely affect the chickens. Leakage in the water supply system can foster bacteria growth and infection, and left unchecked can flood the hen house and drown the chickens. Therefore, a desirable feature of a watering system is the prevention of water accumulating on the floors of the poultry house.
To accommodate the desire for better water supply, water supply systems exist which include a horizontal water supply conduit with water dispensers located along the conduit. These prior art systems utilize dispenser valves having plastic bodies and metal parts commonly formed by machining. The machined parts of the valve can wear and an effect of that wear is that the rate of liquid flow through the valve increases, to the point the flow is in excess of what the chicken can ingest. If too much water is dispensed each valve opening, then the excess water can wet the chicken and wet the litter which fosters bacteria and mold and thereby endangers their lives. The aforementioned wear necessitates replacement or removal of the valves of water supply systems.
A watering system described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,284,036, 4,491,088, 4,589,373, and 4,637,345 solves many of the aforementioned problems, and each of these patents is expressly incorporated by reference herein. These patents disclose a watering system having a drinker valve which is used to supply water and nutrients to chickens or other small animals. Conventionally, a plurality of drinker valves are disposed on a water supply conduit, and the water supply conduit is attached to a ballast pipe which is suspended at a height convenient for the chickens or small animals to reach the drinker valves. A pressure regulator is provided at one end of the conduit to provide a supply of low pressure water to the drinker valves. Each poultry house may include several rows of the conduits, with each row including its own ballast pipe, regulator, and suspension system.
A problem in raising poultry involves the infection of the poultry by bacteria, micro-organisms, and other biological contaminants. In the water conduits of the poultry houses, medication, vitamins, and other additional nutrients may be added to the water. Further, sediment, sludge, or other residue may be originally present in water from the water source. These contaminants may be deposited on the internal surfaces and build up a layer of biofilm. The biofilm provides an environment which is suitable for the growth of bacteria, and the biofilm may become infected with bacteria which can then disseminate throughout the conduit and out the drinker valves. Once the chicken or small animal ingests the bacteria, it may significantly contaminate the meat of the chicken. Similar to contamination of chicken meat by salmonella, chicken meat having other bacterial contamination may cause food poisoning in humans. Therefore, it is desirable to clean off the sediment, residue, and biofilm from the internal surfaces of the water conduits in order to minimize the presence of foreign particles and biological contamination in the drinking water.
One prior art system for cleaning the internal surfaces of water conduits is shown in FIG. 1. Watering system 12 includes ballast pipe 14, water conduit 16, connectors 18, and regulator 20. Connectors 18 secure together pipe 14 and conduit 16 so that the conduit is adequately supported when filled with water and suspended above the ground. Regulator 20 is secured to pipe 14 and fluidly coupled to conduit 16 to provide low pressure water to drinker valves 22 from the relatively high pressure water supplied by the water main (not shown in FIG. 1). Watering system 12 includes two riser tubes 24, one of which is connected to riser port 26 of regulator 20 and the other is connected to riser port 28 of conduit terminator 30. Balls 25 are located in riser tubes 24, and their height in tube 24 is indicative of the fluid pressure in the inlet side of regulator 20. Each riser tube 24 includes self-sealing riser cap 32 which seals off riser tube 24 during high pressure flushing of watering system 12.
The components of watering system 12 which provide the flushing feature includes Y-hose 34, flush ball valve 36, and check valve 38. Y-hose 34 provides a fluid coupling from the water main to input port 40 of regulator 20 and to flush ball valve 36. Flush ball valve 36 is connected to conduit 16 at flush valve port 42 which is positioned downstream from regulator 20. Check valve 38 is connected to conduit terminator 30, and during the high pressure flushing, check valve 38 opens and allows the high pressure water to exit conduit 16 through an attached hose 44.
To flush watering system 12, flush ball valve 36 must be manually switched to the operative position. When so switched, the relatively high pressure water from the water main causes check valve 38 to open so that instead of low pressure water being supplied within conduit 16 by regulator 20, the high pressure water from the water main flows through conduit 16 from port 42 to check valve 38. Although riser tubes 24 are initially filled with water, riser caps 32 in cooperation with balls 25 close off the ends of riser tubes 24 so that the only passageway for exiting water is through check valve 38. The flow of high pressure water tends to scrape the conduit interior surfaces and remove residue creating the biofilm from the interior of the conduit. Another benefit of the system is that during hot weather, flushing the conduit with colder water tends to provide cooler water to the drinkers.
In poultry houses which include several rows of watering system 12 as depicted in FIG. 1, each row requires all the components of the flushing system: a Y-hose, a flush valve, a flush valve port, a conduit terminator, and a check valve. A disadvantage of this system involves the expense of providing and installing all the flushing components on every row of watering conduits. Further, to flush all the conduits in a poultry house with multiple rows, the operator must manually turn on the flush valve of each row, and subsequently manually turn off each flush valve.
Another disadvantage of the prior art system depicted in FIG. 1 relates to the location of the flush valve port at a position on the conduit between the regulator and the terminator. With the flush valve port at this intermediate position on the conduit, only the portion of the conduit which is downstream from the flush valve port is flushed and scraped by the flow of water main pressure water. However, water does not flush through the upstream portion because no exit exists on that side of the flush valve port. Without the higher pressure water flow, the bio-film in the upstream portion of the conduit may not be removed. Therefore, it is undesirable to omit any portion of the conduit from the flushing path.
A further potential problem relates to the disposal of the waste water which is produced by flushing the conduit interior. A poultry house operator may wish to view or otherwise sample the waste water. Also, environmental regulations may require special procedures for disposing waste water, or a poultry house operator may find dumping the waste water at or near the site of the poultry house to be undesirable. Therefore, one desired feature of a watering system involves providing for the disposal of the waste water resulting from flushing.
What is needed is an improved cleaning system for small animal and poultry watering systems.
Also needed is such a system with a fewer number and a more convenient arrangement of components.
A further need is for such a system which flushes all the internal surfaces of the water conduit.
Additionally, such a cleaning system which is more conveniently installed and operated is needed.
Yet another need is for such a system which makes some provision for the disposal of the waste water.